Purdue News
Purdue News
April 16, 1997
The second-year graduate students visited the steel plant in Germany in December as part of the "International Multidisciplinary Management Project." The pilot course teaches students about international management through project work with an overseas company. In this case, it was Georgsmarienhutte GmbH (GMH), a maker of specialty and automotive steel products, owned by Krannert alumnus Juergen Grossman.
Grossman, who wanted to encourage international business experience for Krannert students, subsidized the extra fieldwork and travel expenses associated with the project. The students were to develop a U.S. market entry strategy for GMH and spell out their findings to Grossman at 5 p.m. Thursday in Krannert Center Room 124.
"These students are just months from doing this kind of work in the real world," said Dan E. Schendel, professor of management who instructed the pilot program. "The project has allowed them to develop teamwork skills, gain international experience and learn what it's like to work across language barriers. They also have learned to look at data from a worldwide perspective."
Student Brian Valentine, Laconia, N.H. , said the project enabled him to apply what he's learned at Krannert. "It's 'real world' work that allowed me to apply the whole gamut of courses I've taken so far," he said. "It's also pretty impressive that a group of graduate students were talking with the presidents of some of the world's largest steel companies, learning the business and developing a strategy for one of them."
The diverse team of 12 students includes six international students. All were selected based on the expertise they could bring to the project and the ability to understand and work within different cultures. Two of the students, Thomas Wolfe and Jeff Meredith, are from Lafayette.
Sources: Dan E. Schendel, (765) 494-4386; e-mail, schendel@mgmt.purdue.edu
Brian Valentine, (765) 496-2852
Writer: Kate Walker, (765) 494-2073; e-mail, kate_walker@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The presentation is open to journalists and photographers. For more information, contact Kate Walker, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2073.
